Hélène d'Almeida-Topor (2 October 1932 – 1 August 2020) was a French historian and university professor of contemporary history.

Biography

Her father, Abram Topor, was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

artist of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

origin who studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

. Her brother,

Roland Topor Roland Topor (7 January 1938 – 16 April 1997) was a French illustrator, cartoonist, comics artist, painter, novelist, playwright, film and TV writer, filmmaker and actor, who was known for the surrealism, surreal nature of his work. He was of Po ...

, was also an artist and a writer. Earning an

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in history and geography in 1959, d'Almeida-Topor taught in

Porto-Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Benin, second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following Bri ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

from 1960 to 1970. She also taught in

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

for several years. Subsequently, she became a lecturer at

Paris-Est Créteil University The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris Est, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Ga ...

. In 1987, d'Almeida-Topor defended a thesis titled "Histoire économique du Dahomey (1890-1920)" at

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

under the supervision of Jean Ganiage. She was a professor at the

University of Lorraine The University of Lorraine (), abbreviated as UL, is a public research university based in Lorraine, Grand Est region, France. It was created on 1 January 2012, by the merger of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy 2 University, Paul Verlaine Un ...

from 1988 to 1994 before working at

University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

until 2003, when she became professor emeritus. Her son,

Fabrice d'Almeida Fabrice is a French masculine given name from the Roman name ''Fabricius'', which is itself derived from the Latin ''faber'' meaning blacksmith or craftsman. Notable people with the name include: * Fabrice Balanche (born 1969), French geographer ...

, would also become a historian. Hélène d'Almeida-Topor died on 1 August 2020 at the age of 87.

Publications

*''Les Amazones. Une armée de femmes dans l'Afrique précoloniale'' (1984) *''Les Transports en Afrique xixe – xxe siècle'' (1992) *''L'Afrique au xxe siècle'' (1993) *''L'Europe et l'Afrique, un siècle d'échanges économiques'' (1994) *''Histoire économique du Dahomey. 1890-1920'' (1995) *''Le travail en Afrique noire. Représentations et pratiques à l'époque contemporaine'' (2003) *''Le Goût de l'étranger, les saveurs venues d'ailleurs depuis la fin du xviiie siècle'' (2006) *''L'Afrique'' (2006) *''L'Afrique du 20e siècle à nos jours'' (2013)

Distinction

*President of the Société française d’histoire des outre-mers, Honorary President in 2011

References

20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians 20th-century French educators Historians of Africa French women historians 1932 births 2020 deaths Writers from Paris French people of Portuguese descent Place of death missing 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers {{France-historian-stub